1. The Basics

  • Prop L (formerly the ComMUNIty Transit Act) is a ballot measure to increase operations funding for Muni. Revenue from a new business tax on ride-hail companies will be used to prevent Muni service cuts and improve Muni access to public schools, libraries, and parks. It can also be used to fund discount programs for youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes.

  • Prop L is a grassroots effort by a coalition of over one hundred volunteer advocates and allies in support of safe and sustainable transportation in San Francisco.

    The ballot measure’s proponents are Chris Arvin, Vice Chair of the SFMTA Citizens' Advisory Council; Kat Siegal, Chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority’s Community Advisory Committee; and Lian Chang, whose previous advocacy includes supporting Vision Zero at Walk San Francisco.

    Chris Arvin and sustainable transportation advocate Cyrus Hall are the principal officers for our campaign committee, Yes on L, Fund the Bus.

    All affiliations are shared for identification purposes only.

  • Prop L funding can only be used for the operation of Muni. The funding may be used for the following purposes, at the agency’s discretion:

    • Maintaining or increasing Muni service levels

    • Improving Muni access to parks, libraries and schools, by increasing frequency of routes, adding new routes or expanding routes

    • Maintaining or expanding discounted fare and fare-free programs for youth, people with disabilities, and low-income riders.

  • The full text of the measure is here, and you can also read the city's official digest as it will appear in the voter information guide.

2. Why Prop L

  • The SFMTA, which runs Muni, is facing a deficit of over $239M annually starting in 2026. Without a large new funding source, staff reductions will lead to Muni service cuts. No existing options for transit funding cover the full deficit.

    Funding for Muni is a massive issue and Prop L, raising an estimated $25 million a year, is a small but important piece of the solution. It would be in place indefinitely, while also being especially useful until mid-2027, when a larger revenue source from the possible 2026 regional funding measure may be in place.

    All city agencies are feeling a budget crunch, and Prop L grows the pie instead of pitting one service against another.

  • Muni service cuts will harm all San Franciscans.

    Many San Franciscans are dependent on Muni to get around the city. The loss of service will be most acutely felt for those who have no other options, reducing their access to jobs, family, and the city as a whole.

    But loss of Muni service will hurt everyone’s ability to travel within the city, not just transit riders. As decreased service encourages more people to drive, our streets will see more congestion and a higher demand for parking.

    Also, most (64%) of the agency’s operational funding pays for the salaries of people like operators, mechanics, and cleaners, who keep Muni running. Losing staff would slow Muni’s recovery for years, due to the time to rebuild staffing after new revenue is found.

  • No. Starting in fiscal year 2026-2027, San Francisco is projecting a large $220M+ annual operational deficit for the SFMTA. Prop L, which is estimated to raise $25 million annually, addresses just part of this gap.

    Before 2020, the agency had a small but growing structural deficit, which the pandemic worsened through changes in parking and transit ridership, given the sharp reduction in commuting. To more fully address this structural deficit, San Francisco will need one or more new, large funding sources, such as a regional funding measure which could go to Bay Area voters in 2026.

    However, money from a 2026 regional measure will not start generating revenue until July 2027 at the earliest. While small compared to the overall deficit, Prop L will bring new funding soon, with the business tax starting in January of 2025. This revenue could be used in combination with other new revenue streams to help address the deficit in 2026.

  • Prop L will not fully eliminate the need for a much larger source or sources of funding, such as a 2026 regional funding measure.

    Any future funding will depend on broad political will to fund public transit in San Francisco. By getting on the ballot through a grassroots campaign for transit funding, our goal is for Prop L to demonstrate that transit funding is a winning issue.

    San Francisco’s Muni is the Bay Area’s largest, highest-ridership transit system and has a larger upcoming deficit than many smaller agencies. Showing San Francisco’s ability to take steps to address our own transit funding needs will also, we hope, bolster support across the Bay Area for regional cooperation to fund public transit in 2026 and beyond.

3. Becoming a Law

  • We submitted over 17,000 signatures from San Francisco voters to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.

  • In San Francisco, measures such as Prop L that get on the ballot via signature gathering typically require a simple 50% majority to pass. However, Prop M ("Changes to Business Taxes") includes a clause stating that if both measures pass on the November 2024 ballot, Prop L would need to get a 50% majority and also receive more "yes" votes than Prop M in order to prevail.

    In the reverse direction, our measure Prop L will not invalidate of Prop M regardless of how many votes either measure gets.

  • The Controller's Office has estimated that the measure will provide Muni with an additional $25 million in funding every year.

  • The tax would be in effect starting January 1, 2025.

4. The Tax

  • The tax is on the gross receipts (e.g. total revenue) that a ride-hail platform company earns within the city.

    Any company that charges money to connect passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle is subject to the tax, as well any company that charges for rides in autonomous vehicles.

    Examples of companies that would likely be subject to the tax include Uber Technologies, Inc., Lyft, Inc., and Waymo LLC.

    The tax does not apply to ride-hail drivers, nor does it apply to other transportation such as taxis or privately-operated transportation.

  • The rate of the tax is based on the annual revenue a company makes providing rides in the City.

    • Revenue at $500,000 or under is exempt.

    • 1% of revenue between $500,000.01 and $1,000,000

    • 2.5% of revenue between $1,000,000.01 and $2,500,000

    • 3.5% of revenue between $2,500,000.01 and $25,000,000

    • 4.5% of revenue over $25,000,000

  • The tax would be paid by ride-hail companies, not drivers. If companies choose to fully pass the Ride-Hail Platform Gross Receipts Tax on to customers, a customer would pay up to an additional $0.45 on a $10 fare.

  • No, companies cannot reduce their tax burden by moving their offices outside of the city. While some other gross receipts taxes in San Francisco are apportioned by payroll, meaning the companies are taxed on revenue made outside of San Francisco based on the portion of their employee payroll that is based in San Francisco, this new tax is not apportioned by payroll. The amount of revenue taxed is the amount of revenue earned from ride-hail platform business in the city.

  • No. The ride-hail tax in Prop L is in addition to all other city taxes, and does not modify or replace any existing city taxes or allocations.

  • Yes. In 2018, Washington, D.C. raised their gross receipts tax rates on ride-hail companies from 1% to 6% to raise new funding for their transit system.

    Methods of taxation on ride-hail differ across the country. But San Francisco does not tax ride hails as heavily as comparable cities: Manhattan has a 11.4% tax plus a flat trip fee of $2.75. Even if our measure passes and all ride-hail taxes were passed through to riders, the total per-trip tax would remain low compared to many other major metros, at 7.75%.

  • The tax imposed on ride-hail companies by our measure is an increase in the city’s existing gross receipts tax, rather than a new kind of tax. Ride-hail companies, like all other businesses in the city, are already required to pay the city’s gross receipts tax, which is a tax on a company’s total revenue. Our measure would raise the amount that ride-hail companies are required to pay, and the new revenue would go directly towards funding Muni operations.

    The TNC tax imposed by Prop D in 2019 was a per-ride surcharge at 3.25% of the net fare of each TNC ride, and is capped at that rate at the state level. Most of the revenues from the per-ride surcharge go towards funding transportation infrastructure, whereas our tax would fund day-to-day Muni operations. This is important, as Muni faces a significant deficit in operational funding, and will likely have to cut service when federal pandemic aid runs out in 2026.